U.S. judge denies request for outsider to oversee Puerto Rico's PREPA

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Monday rejected a request to install a former military officer to oversee Puerto Rico's beleaguered electric utility, PREPA, a victory for Governor Ricardo Rossello, whose government opposed the appointment.

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, ruling from the bench in New York, denied a motion filed Oct. 26 by the federally appointed Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, according to a court official. The board wanted to install retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Noel Zamot as PREPA's chief transformation officer.

The oversight board was created under the 2016 Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, which is charged with helping the island recover from a financial disaster that left it with $120 billion in unpayable debt and pension liabilities.

Zamot's name was put forward as an emergency manager after PREPA was criticized for signing a $300 million, no-bid contract with tiny Whitefish Energy Holdings to lead power restoration efforts. The deal sparked an uproar over its provisions and the Montana company's lack of experience with projects that big.

PREPA on Oct. 29 agreed to cancel the contract after Rossello urged that it be scrapped.

In its motion, the board sought the court's approval "confirming Noel Zamot as PREPA's Chief Transformation Officer (the "CTO") with all the powers of a chief executive officer reporting to the Oversight Board."

However, Puerto Rico's government believed the move was an overreach of the oversight board's authority and forcefully opposed the move in a public meeting on Oct. 31.

The government's liaison to the board, Christian Sobrino, said the appointment would essentially mean the board could replace any Puerto Rican government official, "maybe even the governor."

Earlier on Monday, Rossello released a letter sent to President Donald Trump saying Puerto Rico's government was requesting $94.4 billion from Congress to rebuild island infrastructure, housing, schools and hospitals devastated by Hurricane Maria in September.